Feed control mechanism for quilting machine arrangement



Nov. 28, 1967 w. G. STORY FEED CONTROL MECHANISM FOR QUILTING MACHINEARRANGEMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 25, 1965 INVENTOR. Wayne G.Story Mi/25W Attorney W. G. STORY Nov. 28, 1967 FEED CONTROL MECHANISMFOR QUILTING MACHINE- ARRANGEMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1965INVENTOR. Woyne 6. Story Atro rney W. G. STORY Nov. 28, 1967 FEEDCONTROL MECHANISM FOR QUILTING MACHINE ARRANGEMENT- Filed Aug. 25, 19653 SheetsSheet 5 Ff'aa INVENTOR. Wayne Story BY M/MM Attorney 3,354,850FEED CONTROL MECHANISM FOR QUILTING MACHINE ARRANGEMENT Wayne G. Story,7 Hickory Lane, Algonquin, Ill. 60102 Filed Aug. 25, 1965, Ser. No.482,496 Claims. (Cl. 112118) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This inventionrelates to a quilting machine having means for driving the sewing andworkpiece feed mechanisms from a common power source and including aguide mechanism with a differential gearing arrangement to compensatefor the relative movement between the feed drive and the feed controlmechanisms to provide a uniform rate of speed for the feed drivemechanism relative to the speed of the sewing mechanism to insureuniformity in the length of stitches of the sewing machine.

This invention relates to quilting machines, and more particularly to anarrangement for feeding a workpiece under a sewing mechanism and forcontrolling the direction of feed.

The invention comprehends an improvement in a quilting machine of thetype wherein a workpiece is secured to a frame on a carriage mountedunder a stationary sewing mechanism for universal movement in ahorizontal plane to permit an operator to control the direction of feedof the workpiece and thereby stitch in a predetermined pattern.

It is an object of the invention to provide, in an arrangement of thetype described, means for driving the sewing and workpiece feedmechanisms from a common power source in synchronization with eachother.

Another object of the invention is the provision, in an arrangement ofthe type described, of a guide mechanism for controlling the directionof feed of the workpiece to stitch in a predetermined pattern.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide, in an arrangementof the type described, a differential gearing arrangement to compensatefor the relative movement between the feed drive and the feed controlmechanisms to provide a uniform rate of speed for the feed drivemechanism relative to the speed of the sewing mechanism to insureuniformity in the length of stitches of the sewing mechanism.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent froman examination of the following description and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a quilting machine embodying featuresof the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal, vertical section taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of the feed mechanismillustrated in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a reduced, fragmentary, side elevational view, similar tothe view of FIGURE 2, but illustrating a modified form of the invention.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elementshave been intentionally omitted from certain views where they arebelieved to be illustrated to better advantage in other views.

Turning now to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention,it will be seen that the novel quilting machine of the inventionincludes supporting framework or structure, indicated generally at SS,which may be positioned on and secured to the floor F of a building.

The supporting structure includes a preferably rectangular, flat,horizontally disposed base which comprises a pair of longitudinallyextending side members 12 nited States Patent 50 3,354,850 Fate'ntedNov. 28, 1967 EET interconnected at their ends by a pair of integral,transversely extending end members 14.

Secured to and extending upwardly from medial portions of end members 14is a pair of vertical posts or columns 16 which are interconnected attheir upper extremities by an integral, longitudinal, upper, horizontalmember or bridge 18. Spaced vertically below bridge 18 is a secondintegral, longitudinal, lower, horizontal member or shelf 20 which alsointerconnects columns 16.

Mounted on the upper surfaces of side members 14 is a first pair ofroller tracks 22 which receive the rollers 24 of a lower carriage 26 topermit the movement of the lower carriage longitudinally of the base.

Lower carriage 26 is preferably a rectangular framelike structureincluding opposed pairs of elongated side and end members 28 and 30,respectively, which are interconnected at their ends to provide a rigidrectangular frame.

Mounted on the upper surfaces of lower carriage end members 30 is asecond pair of roller tracks 32 which receive the rollers 34 of an uppercarriage 36 to permit the movement of the upper carriage transversely ofthe base. Thus, it will be apparent that with this double carriagearrangement the upper carriage can be moved in any direction in ahorizontal plane relative to the supporting structure.

Upper carriage 36 preferably includes a pair of generally rectangulartop and bottom horizontal frames 38 and 40, respectively, which arespaced vertically from each other in overlying relation and which areinterconnected at their corners by opposed pairs of front and rear (asseen in FIGURE 1) corner posts 42 and 44, respectively.

As best seen in FIGURES 1 and 3, bottom frame includes a pair ofhorizontal cross-members or struts 46 on which may be resilientlymounted a table 48.

Table 48 may be supported at its corners on springs 50 which are carriedon spring guides 52 received within spring housings 54 secured to crossstruts 46. To limit vertical movement of table 48 the spring guides maybe provided with spring guide pins 56 which ride in related grooves orslots 58 in the related spring housings.

The upper surface of table 48 may be recessed to receive a relativelythin, flat plate 59, preferably formed of a soft material such as softmetal or plastic. The purpose of plate 59 will be described later in thespecification.

A conventional sewing machine S of the type used in commercial quiltingoperations is supported by the base 10, with the head portion H, housingthe vertically reciprocating needle mechanism, being secured to theunderside of the base bridge 18, and with the separate table or baseportion T, housing the bobbin mechanism, being secured to the upper sideof the base shelf 20, directly below and in alignment with the headportion of the sewing machine.

Inasmuch as this invention is not concerned with the actual needle andbobbin mechanisms of the sewing machine (which may be of anyconventional type) they are not illustrated in detail in the drawings.Although the needle and bobbin mechanisms are not shown in detail, thedrive shafts for these mechanisms are shown in FIG- URE 2 of thedrawings and will be described later in the specification.

Again referring to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that a pair of materialcarrying front and rear rolls 60 and 62, respectively, are rotatablymounted on and supported by the front and rear pairs of corner posts 42and 44, respectively, of upper carriage 36. Thus, as the material whichforms the workpiece is advanced from front roll 60 to rear roll 62 itpasses in a horizontal plane between the needle and bobbin mechanisms ofthe sewing machine. Also, because of the dual frame arrangement, theworkpiece may be moved horizontally in any desired direction relative tothe sewing machine which is in a fixed position.

The portion of the workpiece may be retained in a taut or stretchedcondition between the rolls 60 and 62 by means of a clamping mechanism64 which includes a pair of generally thin, fiat, elongated clampingbars 66, spaced above upper carriage top frame 38 a distance suificientto permit the marginal side edges of the workpiece to be receivedtherebetween, and which are urged toward and away from frame 38 by aplurality of pneumatically or electrically actuated pistons 68.

The direction of movement of the upper carriage, which holds theworkpiece, can be controlled manually, as illustrated in FIGURES l and 2and hereinafter described, or it can be controlled automatically by aprogramming arrangement, as illustrated in the modified form of theinvention shown in FIGURE 4 and described later in the specification.

In the manual guiding arrangement the operator can either guide thecarriage by means of the pointer mechanism indicated generally at 70, orhe can merely move the carriage in a manner such that printed lines onthe workpiece itself are brought in line with the needle of the sewingmachine.

Pointer mechanism 70 includes a horizontally disposed arm 72 having itsinner end affixed to the upper carriage, as at 74, and having at itsouter end a vertical pointer or finger 76 which is disposed to move overa printed pattern P disposed on a shelf 78 affixed to one of the columns16 of the base 10.

The feed control mechanism, indicated generally at 80, includes a handle82 fixed to one end of a handle shaft 84 which is rotatably mounted on abase column of the supporting structure and which has fixed to itsopposite end a bevel gear 86 engageable with a bevel gear 88 on theoutboard end of a horizontal control shaft 90 which is also rotatablycarried by the supporting structure.

A bevel gear 92 is fixed to the inboard end of horizontal control shaft90 for engagement with a bevel gear 94 fixed to the upper end of avertical control shaft 96, also rotatably carried by the supportingstructure, and having fixed to its lower end a belt pulley 98 connectedby a belt 100 to a belt pulley 102 fixed to a lower portion of a hollow,vertical, feed control main shaft 104 which is rotatably supported, asat 106, by a bracket 108 mounted on the underside of supportingstructure shelf 20.

At its lower end main shaft 104 has afi'ixed thereto or formedintegrally therewith, a feed drive mechanism housing or support 110having a pair of upper and lower shafts 112 and 114 mounted therein forrotation about parallel horizontal axes.

Fixed to a medial portion of lower shaft 114 is a feed wheel 116 which,when rotated with shaft 114, is engagea-ble with soft plate 59 carriedby table 48 on the bottom frame 40 of upper carriage 36 in a mannerpreviously described. Preferably, feed wheel 116 is provided with geartype teeth 118 which can bite into the soft material -of plate 59 and,when rotated, move the plate and thereby move the entire upper carriageand workpiece, in the desired direction as controlled by the operator.

The direction of movement is accomplished by the feed control mechanism,indicated generally at 80, and previously described.

As feed control handle 82 is rotated in either direction, by means ofthe gear train including shaft 84, gears 86 and 88, shaft 90, gears 92and 94, shaft 96, pulley 98. belt 100, and pulley 102, main shaft 104and housing 110 are thereby rotated and, in turn rotate shaft 114 in ahorizontal plane to change the rotative plane of feed wheel 116 tocontrol the direction of feed of the workpiece carried by the uppercarriage.

In addition to feed wheel 116, lower shaft 114 also has fixed thereto aspur gear 120 which is engageable with a spur gear 122 fixed to one endof upper shaft 112. Fixed to the other end of upper shaft 112 is a bevelgear 124 which is engageable with a bevel gear 126 fixed to the lowerend of solid vertical feed drive shaft 128 which is mounted withinhollow main shaft 104 for rotative movement relative thereto.

Fixed to the upper end of shaft 128 is a bevel gear 130 engageable witha bevel gear 132 fixed to one end of a hollow, horizontal, feed driveshaft 134 which is rotatably carried by mounting bracket 108 and whichhas fixed to its other end a driven bevel side gear 136. Gear 136 isrotated by a driving bevel side gear 138 fixed to one end of feed drivepower shaft 140, through pinion gear 142 of a differential geararrangement 170 the purpose and operation of which is described later inthe specification.

For the present, it will be understood that as feed drive power shaft isrotated, in a manner hereinafter described, feed wheel 116 will likewisebe rotated through the gear train which includes pinion gear 142, drivenbevel side gear 136, hollow, horizontal, feed drive shaft 134, bevelgears 132 and 130, solid, vertical, feed drive shaft 128, bevel gears126 and 124, shaft 112, spur gears 122 and 120, and shaft 114.

Feed drive power shaft 140 is rotatably carried by the supportingstructure, as at 144, in parallel relation with sewing machine needlemechanism and bobbin mechanism horizontal power shafts 146 and 148,respectively, which are also rotatably carried by the supportingstructure, as at 150 and 152, respectively.

At its outer end feed drive power shaft 140 has fixed thereto a pair ofinboard and outboard belt pulleys 154 and 156, respectively.

Inboard pulley 154 is connected by belt 158 to a belt pulley 160 carriedon the outer end of a shaft 162 of an electric motor M mounted on thebase of the supporting structure.

Bobbin mechanism power shaft 148 also has fixed to its outer end a pairof inboard and outboard belt pulleys 164 and 166, respectively. Outboardpulley 166 is connected by belt 168 to outboard pulley 156 of shaft 140,while inboard pulley 164 is connected by a belt 171 to belt pulley 173fixed to the outer end of needle mechanism power shaft 146.

Thus, it will be understood that all three power shafts of the needle,bobbin, and feed drive mechanisms may be driven by a single motor by thebelt and pulley arrangement previously described; although in utilizingthis invention it is not essential that both the sewing mechanism andfeed drive mechanism be driven from the same power source.

So far in the specification the feed drive and feed control mechanismshave been described, and at this point will commence a description ofthe differential gearing arrangement that makes it possible to power thefeed drive mechanism from the same motor that powers the needle andbobbin mechanisms of the sewing machine if desired and, at the sametime, control the direction of the feed drive mechanism whilemaintaining a uniform rate of speed for the feed wheel.

It will be understood that, in the absence of a differential gearingarrangement, hereinafter described, if the feed wheel housing were to berotated in one direction, relative to the feed drive power shaftrotation, the speed of the feed wheel would be increased; whereas, if itwere to be rotated in the opposite direction the speed of the feed wheelwould be decreased. Inasmuch as the rate of speed of the needle andbobbin mechanisms remains constant when all three are power driven fromthe same motor, any variance in the rate of the feed wheel would resultin a lack of uniformity in the length of stitch in the workpiece.

The present invention has overcome this serious problem by adifferential gearing arrangement, indicated generally at 170, whichmakes it possible to rotate the feed wheel housing so as to change thedirection of feed witho'ut affecting the rate of speed of rotation ofthe feed wheel. As best seen in FIGURE 3, there is fixed to an upperportion of hollow vertical feed control main shaft 104 a spur gear 172which is engageable with a spur gear 174 fixed to the lower end of avertical differential shaft 176 which is rotatably carried by bracket108 of the supporting structure. At its upper end shaft 176 has fixedthereto a bevel gear 178 which is engageable with a bevel gear 180 fixedto one end of a solid, horizontal, differential shaft 182 which isrotatably mounted within hollow, horizontal feed drive shaft 134. At itsopposite end shaft 182 has fixed thereto a differential pinion block 184which is positioned to rotate freely between differential bevel sidegears 136 and 138 and which has rotatably mounted on one end thereof thepreviously mentioned bevel pinion gear 142 which is engageable with sidebevel gears 136 and 138.

As previously mentioned, pinion gear 142 is operable to transfer themovement from side gear 138 of feed power shaft to side gear 136 ofhollow horizontal feed drive shaft 134 to drive feed wheel 116.

In order to compensate for the relative motion between the outer,vertical, feed control main shaft 104 and the inner, vertical feed driveshaft the relative movement is transferred through the differential geartrain which includes shaft 104, spur gears 172 and 174, shaft 176, bevelgears 178 and 180, shaft 182, and pinion block 184, to the differentialpinion bevel gear 142 which is free to revolve in a vertical planebetween the side gears 136 and 138 which are engaged and interconnectedby gear 142. Thus, as gear 142 rotates on its axis it transfers movementfrom gear 136 to gear 138, and at the same time as gear 142 revolveswith pinion block 184 in a vertical plane its movement takes up therelative movement between inner and outer shafts 128 and 104,respectively, to maintain a uniform rate of speed of the feed wheelrelative to the needle and bobbin mechanisms and thereby insureuniformity in the length of stitches of the sewing machine on theworkpiece. Without this arrangement it would be necessary to power thesewing and feed mechanisms by separate motors, or else it would benecessary to power the feed drive mechanism by a separate motor whichwas mounted on the feed drive mechanism for rotation with the feed drivemechanism.

Turning now to FIGURE 4, it will be seen that a modified form of theinvention is shown. In place of one sewing machine mechanism, aplurality of sewing machines S may be utilized to operate from commonpower shafts 140', 146 and 148 in order to stitch a common pattern in aplurality of locations on the workpiece W at the same time.

In a further modification in the feed control mechanism 80' it will beseen that the guide handle 82 of the earlier described embodiment may bereplaced with a cam lug 192 adapted to ride in the grooved cam track 194of a predetermined solid pattern P supported adjacent the supportingstructure to effect the automatic control of the direction of travel ofthe feed wheel.

I claim:

1. In a quilting machine arrangement, the combination of:

(a) supporting structure;

(b) a power driven sewing mechanism mounted on the supporting structure;

(c) a workpiece holding carriage mounted on the supporting structure foruniversal movement in a horizontal plane adjacent said sewing mechanism;

(d) a power driven feed drive mechanism mounted on the supportingstructure and engageable with the carriage to move it in said horizontalplane and includmg:

(i) a feed wheel support mounted for rotation about a vertical axis;

(ii) a feed wheel mounted on said support for rotation about ahorizontal axis;

(e) a feed control mechanism connected to the feed drive mechanism andoperable to rotate the feed wheel support about its vertical axis toguide the direction of feed of the workpiece carriage;

(f) a single power source;

(g) power transfer means operable to transfer power to the sewing andfeed drive mechanisms;

(h) differential gearing means connecting the power transfer means withboth the feed drive and feed control mechanisms to compensate forrelative movement therebetween and thereby maintain a fixed relationbetween the speeds of the sewing and feed drive mechanisms to insureuniformity of stitches of the sewing mechanism.

2. In a quilting machine arrangement, the combination of:

(a) supporting structure;

(b) a power driven sewing mechanism mounted on the supporting structure;

(0) a workpiece holding carriage mounted for universal movement in ahorizontal plane adjacent said sewing mechanism;

(d) a power driven feed drive mechanism mounted on the supportingstructure and engageable with the carriage to move it in said horizontalplane and including:

(i) a feed wheel support mounted for rotation about a vertical axis;

(ii) a feed wheel mounted on said support for rotation about ahorizontal axis;

(e) a feed control mechanism connected to the feed drive mechanism andoperable to rotate the feed wheel support about its vertical axis toguide the direction of feed of the workpiece carriage;

(f) power means operable to drive the feed drive mechanism;

(g) differential gearing means connecting the power means with both thefeed drive and feed control mechanisms to compensate for relativerotative movement therebetween and thereby maintain a fixed relationbetween the speeds of the sewing and feed drive mechanisms to insureuniformity of stitches of the sewing mechanism.

3. In a quilting machine arrangement, the combination of:

(a) a power driven sewing mechanism;

(b) a workpiece holding carriage mounted for universal movement in aplane adjacent said sewing mechanism;

(c) a power driven feed drive mechanism engageable with the carriage tomove it in said plane and includmg:

(i) a feed wheel support mounted for rotation about a first axis;

(ii) a feed wheel mounted on said support for rotation about a secondaxis which is normal to said first axis;

((1) a feed control mechanism connected to the feed drive mechanism andoperable to rotate the feed wheel support about its axis to guide thedirection of feed of the workpiece carriage;

(e) power transfer means operable to transfer power to the feed drivemechanism;

(f) differential gearing means connecting the power transfer means withboth the feed drive and feed control mechanisms to compensate forrelative rotative movement therebetween and thereby maintain a fixedrelation between the speeds of the sewing and feed drive mechanisms toinsure uniformity of stitches of the sewing mechanism.

4. In a quilting machine arrangement, the combination of:

(a) a power driven sewing mechanism;

(b) a workpiece holding carriage mounted for universal movement in aplane adjacent said sewing mechanism;

(c) a power driven feed drive mechanism engageable with the carriage tomove it in said plane;

(d) a feed control mechanism connected to the feed drive mechanism andoperable to move the feed drive mechanism to guide the direction of feedof the workpiece carriage;

(e) power transfer means operable to transfer power to the feed drivemechanism;

(If) differential gearing means connecting the power transfer means withboth the feed drive and feed control mechanisms to compensate forrelative movement therebetween and thereby maintain a fixed relationbetween the speeds of the sewing and feed drive mechanisms to insureuniformity of stitches of the sewing mechanism.

5. A quilting machine arrangement according to claim 3, wherein saiddifferential gearing means includes:

(a) a first outer shaft connected at one end to said feed wheel support,and connected at another location to said feed control mechanism;

(b) a first inner shaft rotatably mounted within said first outer shaft,and operatively connected at one end to said feed wheel;

(0) a second outer shaft operatively connected at one end to the otherend of said first inner shaft;

(d) a second inner shaft rotatably mounted within said second outershaft;

(e) means operatively connecting the other end of said second outershaft to an adjacent end of a power shaft, including:

(i) a pair of bevel side gears fixed to adjacent ends of said lastmentioned shafts;

(ii) a bevel pinion gear operatively connected to one end of said secondinner shaft so that it can revolve between said side gears in a planenormal to the axes of said last mentioned shafts, and being rotatablyengageable with said side gears to transfer motion therebetween;

(f) means connecting the other end of said second inner shaft to saidfirst outer shaft operative to transfer the relative rotative movementbetween the first shafts to the pinion gear and thereby cause the piniongear to revolve between the side gears without effecting its rotationtherebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN, PrimaryExaminer.

G. V. LARKIN, Examiner.

1. IN A QUILTING MACHINE ARRANGEMENT, THE COMBINATION OF: (A) SUPPORTINGSTRUCTURE; (B) A POWER DRIVEN SEWING MECHANISM MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORTINGSTRUCTURE; (C) A WORKPIECE HOLDING CARRIAGE MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORTINGSTRUCTURE FOR UNIVERSAL MOVEMENT IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE ADJACENT SAIDSEWING MECHANISM; (D) A POWER DRIVEN FEED DRIVE MECHANISM MOUNTED ON THESUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE CARRIAGE TO MOVE IT IN SAIDHORIZONTAL PLANE AND INCLUDING: (I) A FEED WHEEL SUPPORT MOUNTED FORROTATION ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS; (II) A FEED WHEEL MOUNTED ON SAIDSUPPORT FOR ROTATION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS; (E) A FEED CONTROLMECHANISM CONNECTTED TO THE FEED DRIVE MECHANISM AND OPERABLE TO ROTATETHE FEED WHEEL SUPPORT ABOUT ITS VERTICAL AXIS TO GUIDE THE DIRECTION OFFEED OF THE WORKPIECE CARRIAGE; (F) A SINGLE POWER SOURCE; (G) POWERTRANSFER MEANS OPERABLE TO TRANSFER POWER TO THE SEWING AND FEED DRIVEMECHANISMS; (H) DIFFERENTIAL GEARING MEANS CONNECTING THE POWER TRANSFERMEANS WITH BOTH THE FEED DRIVE AND FEED CONTROL MECHANISMS TO COMPENSATEFOR RELATIVE MOVEMENT THEREBETWEEN AND THEREBY MAINTAIN A FIXED RELATIONBETWEEN THE SPEEDS OF THE SEWING AND FEED DRIVE MECHANISMS TO INSUREUNIFORMITY OF STITCHES OF THE SEWING MECHANISM.